When in Spain...

In 2010, my sister and I visited 3 cities in Spain. We went to Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. We had such a great time and truly enjoyed the food and culture.

I tried Paella (pronounced pa-ay-yah). It was awesome. Had it just about every day while we were there.
We visited the Olympic village (yup...it is still a tourist attraction 21 years later). We didn't really see the running of the bull but we walked by a stadium where it is done.

OK...I am sure you don't care about the whole narrative so here are pictures from our Spain Adventures.

A Prime Minister lived here. So we took a picture :-).

Turns out most of the cathedrals in Valencia used to be mosques! Did you know that? I never did.

My beautiful sister. 

Check out the paining on this building. Made me want a fruit salad!

The palace where the royal family lives. Kinda reminded me of the front of Versailles in France.

Paella!!! Yum! And a glass of wine. Made it all go down nicely :-D

We walked and walked and walked to find this place. By the time we got there, we just wanted to turn around and go home! Its similar to the one in Paris!

My beautiful sister.

See the guard there? He was saying "don't touch, don't touch!" :-)

Yup...another couple getting married. That's a common theme on all my travels. I now make it a point to take a picture of the couple. Notice the guy kinda looks like Robert Patterson from the Twilight movies?

This place reminded me of inside the Vatican.

Crepes and Sangria. Lunch of champions!!! :-D

Check out this building. It was designed by Gaudi. His buildings are meant to be functional and they look wicked cool!

Another Gaudi design.

Why did I take a picture of this? Other than the fact that I take pictures of all the places? Well, because we were looking for this place FOREVER!!! And apparently, the reason no one knew where it was was cause we weren't pronouncing it right. We were supposed to extend the "R". As in "Rrrrrrrrrrreeeeeiiina". I kid you not!

They do the running of the bulls at that stadium. It looks like the Colosseum in Rome doesn't it?

Never had pizza with tuna on it. This was a first. It was definitely an acquired taste. The orange sangria made it go down smoother though :-).

Yup...another couple getting married :-D. And we just sat in the Cathedral like we were invited guests :-D

I thought this was pretty cool. The buildings went on forever.

A Matador! Wicked!

We attended an outdoor concert in Barcelona.

Ummm...what's for dinner? This was very disturbing art. It is a depiction of John The Baptist's head as requested by Salome in the bible.

Another picture of Salome and the head of John The Baptist.

Now, THAT's what should be on a plate. Paella!!!

A real hand of one of the saints from the 15th century. All I can say is...ummm...OK!

This was just too funny not to take a picture of. At first I was thinking SPIDERMAN! But then, he turned to the side (you have to tip them to take a picture of them) and I thought Alfred Hitchcock!

No more monks going up to ring the bell. Not it is electronic. They push a button and it rings. Check out the wiring on this thing. How far technology has come!

I was looking around to see if I'd find Superman or Clark Kent. At last, he did not appear :-(

Yup. More paella!

Inside one of the many mansions we visited. How cool is this place?

If you're a regular follower, you know I love taking pictures of signs cause I think they are so cool!

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Spain. I hope to one day go back with my family. I loved the food, the people and the culture. It is definitely worth visiting if you ever get the opportunity!

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend festivities...T minus 3 to 1

The countdown has officially begun. My baby turns 1 in exactly 3 days! I cannot believe how quickly the time has FLOWN by! I mean, I can still remember being in labor and going to the doctor. Surely that wasn't a year ago? People weren't kidding when they say TIME FLIES!!!

We had a fairly busy weekend in preparation for JOE's birthday party next Saturday. 

On Saturday, we went for our regular family Saturday morning walk. Here is JOE all bundled up. 

J called it her Eskimo suit. Whatever! I didn't want my baby to get cold :-).

After our walk, it was time for breakfast. JOE has some scrambled eggs. YUM!

Fall is in the air! In the 11-years since I have lived in the DMV area, I have never seen such beautiful fall colors. For the first time this year, I am not longing to go home to New England to experience the fall foliage.

BIRTHDAY DIY:

I made a couple of birthday DIY items this weekend. 

These are the table weights to tie the balloons. Its a jungle themed party so I wanted to stay with the theme. I got a couple of bags of stones from the dollar store and used snack bags and a string. Easy!

These are going to be used for playing games. The kids will have the option to knock them down. Knock all cans, win a prize. 

There's be 2 games. One is called "Knock 'em down" and the other is called "Add 'em up". For that one, they will be throwing the beanie bags I made into baskets. Each basket will have a position number. Score 10 or more points and win a prize. 

I also did a couple other items for her birthday but those will be revealed in the After the Party birthday recap post. 

UPDATE TO LAST WEEK'S POST:

Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes. JOE is doing MUCH MUCH better as you can see from the pics. J & I are new parents and are learning new things each day. JOE saw the doctor and we were able to get her something that would make her feel better. 

Hope you all had an awesome weekend! 

Here's to a blessed week!!!

Foolery: Things that make me go hmmm...

OK. A bit extreme. I mean, it irked me that people did this when I was pregnant but seriously? There's no need for a law suit! I often put my hands around my stomach or stepped back if I didn't want someone to touch my stomach. I do think its rude to do it though when you don't know the person.

Oh wow...talk about downsizing. I don't know how this is even possible! I would be claustrophobic living in a house like this. I need space to move around. 

ICK ICK ICK!!! I don't think I could ever live in a place I knew used to be a public restroom. Every time I saw water, I'd wonder "what if?" or "where did that come from?" Grossness!!! 

Ever heard the saying "pride goes before a fall?" (Proverbs 16:18). Kanye West is probably not familiar with this bible passage. He is just so full of himself! He really thinks he is THAT influential? Sorry to those who love Kanye but his pride is just something I can't stomach. Humility is NOT one of his character traits. 

OMG! I have truly read it all! I cannot believe there was actually a study on butt size! Of course I'd like to say I agree with the study since I am very smart :-). 

And since I am so smart, I now have proof that I AM every woman! :-). Whitney Houston couldn't have said it any better!

Hope you had a fabulous week!

My baby will be a year in 6-days. WOW WOW WOW!!!